


Steadfast and Unwavering

by ginkitty



Category: Gintama
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drinking, Feelings are (re)discovered, Fluff, M/M, Set right after Benizakura arc, Were they ever truly gone?, Zura and Yorozuya bonding of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-09 23:24:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11679270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginkitty/pseuds/ginkitty
Summary: Parachute in his hands, Gintoki fixed his eyes on the horizon, a blank expression on his face. “You know, Zura, you need to put on a wig for real, nobody will realise it’s you without the long hair.”“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. Thank you for your concern, I’m sure people will love my image change.”He ran his fingers through his own hair almost inaudibly sighing, “Does it look weird?”Gintoki shrugged, eyes now set on Zura’s hair, “Looks like a wig to me.” Fatigue and his hastily patched up, unhealed injuries made it hard to stand, his eyelids felt unusually heavy. Laying down right here seemed like a good idea, resting and recovering with the the sun as a blanket.





	Steadfast and Unwavering

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to the most precious and wonderful GinZura friend I could ever wish for.  
> Miren, I love you so very much and I am beyond happy to have met you. Please enjoy your day to the fullest <3  
> Thank you for always having an open ear, for being reliable and sweet.  
> I hope I can convey my love for you with this fic.
> 
> Big thanks to my wonderful beta readers <3

Gintoki waded through knee deep seawater, his boots soaked while Katsura removed the parachute straps from his shoulders. Once he reached the shore, he sat down on a nearby rock and took off his black boots. A bored expression on his face, he turned one boot upside down hoping to get rid of the aquarium inside. He could’ve sworn a small fish fell out. Katsura had his arms full with the parachute and his rather raddled sandals, while making his way to the shore with big steps. Gintoki couldn’t help but wonder where the hell he got a parachute with Elizabeth’s face printed on it from.

He noticed blood stains on Zura’s clothes and unevenly cut strands of black hair, ruffled by the wind in various directions. He put his boots back on and padded over to the other man, who had already reached the shore, offering to help with the messily folded and uncomfortably large parachute.

“Gotta put my sandals back on,” he said with an exhausted tone in his voice after giving the parachute to Gintoki.

Parachute in his hands, Gintoki fixed his eyes on the horizon, a blank expression on his face. “You know, Zura, you need to put on a wig for real, nobody will realise it’s you without the long hair.”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. Thank you for your concern, I’m sure people will love my image change.”

He ran his fingers through his own hair almost inaudibly sighing, “Does it look weird?”

Gintoki shrugged, eyes now set on Zura’s hair, “Looks like a wig to me.” Fatigue and his hastily patched up, unhealed injuries made it hard to stand, his eyelids felt unusually heavy. Laying down right here seemed like a good idea, resting and recovering with the the sun as a blanket.

A voice disrupted his thoughts “ - not wig, it’s Katsura,” he complained while taking the parachute from Gintoki’s hands, brown eyes meeting crimson ones, a sudden worried frown, “Gintoki, are you alright?”

“‘m alright, jus’ tired.”

“Tsk, you’re a fool for fighting with your injuries.”

“Pah, like you’re one to talk,” Gintoki snapped back much less sharp and much more tired than he intended to.

“Today, I will walk you home to make sure you’ll reach your futon. Wait a second, I’ll hide the parachute over there behind the rocks.” He started walking.

“Who are you, my mother,” shouted Gintoki at Katsura’s back only to be receive a _It’s not mother, it’s Katsura_ in return. He slowly made his way to the nearby street to start looking for Kagura and Shinpachi.

Katsura quickly caught up with Gintoki’s rather slow pace. They walked next to each other in silence, the sun shining on their backs and ever so slightly warming their cold bodies under soaked clothes.

As soon as they reached the road, Kagura spotted them in no time. Along with Shinpachi and Sadaharu, she ran over to them, jump-hugging and therefore knocking over Gintoki. Katsura couldn’t help but chuckle at the noisy bundle of Yorozuya on the road, hugging, shouting, cursing, and laughing all at the same time. Kagura was the first person to get up again, Shinpachi followed quickly after; Gintoki was still sitting on the road mumbling something about how hard he fought despite his injuries only to be greeted like this by two chaos kids, with Sadaharu occasionally licking his face.

Katsura took a small step, his hand inched forward to help Gintoki to his feet but suddenly, Kagura was there hugging him.

“Zura, I’m glad your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. What sacrifice?” he asked while patting Kagura’s hair. He felt a sudden rush of sadness and worry because of the traces of battle on the girl’s clothes, and weren’t there even some bullet holes; a teenage girl shouldn’t be fighting like this.

“I’m talking about your hair! You bravely sacrificed large parts of your wig to survive.”

“It’s not wig, it’s Katsura, and don’t you worry, Leader. It’ll grow back in no time. I’m glad you and Shinpachi-kun made it out without any serious injuries.”

“Don’t worry, we’re tough. We survive working with Gin-chan on a daily basis.” She stopped hugging Katsura and went over to Shinpachi who was helping Gintoki to his feet.

“‘s that supposed to mean, you always hungry brat?” Gintoki grumbled as she put his arm over her shoulder to support him from the left side.

“I see you’re in good care, Gintoki,” Katsura remarked, “I will head back to the Joui rebel hideout, then. Goodbye!”

“Goodbye, Katsura-san,” Shinpachi replied politely, “Please don’t worry us like this again. Don’t forget to bring Otsuu’s CD and Bargain Dash for my sister the next time you stop by.”

“Don’t forget my Sukonbu either!” Kagura joined in, as the four made their way in the opposite direction as noisy as ever.

He turned around and started walking, hearing the Yorozuya bicker and Sadaharu bark in the distance, a gentle smile on his lips. Gintoki, he thought to himself, you found yourself a great family.

_________________________________

 

A few weeks have passed and after the disaster at the Shimura siblings’ place, Gintoki was back at the Yorozuya to recover from old and new injuries.

The day was nearing its end with the evening sun showering the apartment in warm light; Shinpachi was cleaning here and there and Kagura was watching TV while chewing on sukonbu. Gintoki was sitting right next to her on the couch, pinkie up his nose and the other hand absentmindedly scratching his chest. His hands and arms were not bandaged anymore, but the bandage on his chest and stomach remained, the healing wound underneath annoying and itchy.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. “Oi, Pattsuan, the door.”

“Gin-san, I don’t recall your legs being injured, you could open the door yourself,” nagged the boy.

“I bet it’s just the old hag coming for the rent again.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. JAN-KEN-PO-” a voice interrupted the game.

“Good evening, Leader, Gintoki, Shinpachi-kun, Sadaharu-dono, it’s Katsura.”

Gintoki rose to his feet, slowly padding towards the door, hand ruffling through his hair, “Coming,” he replied in a sing song voice.

He opened the door. Katsura was standing there, in his hands four carefully stacked trays with lids to cover what was inside and two plastic bags. The black strands were less uneven now but seeing Katsura with short hair was something he couldn’t quite get used to.

“Good evening, Gintoki,” he greeted again,”may I enter?”

“Sure,” Gintoki stepped aside to let their visitor in, “What’s in the trays?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he carefully shook the sandals from his feet. Gintoki closed the door behind him and both men made their way to the living room.

“Ne, Zura, why did you come here and what’s in the trays,” a curious girl asked while checking the trays from every possible angle as Katsura put them and the plastic bags on the small table.

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura,” he replied while reaching into one of the plastic bags and handing a big pack of sukonbu to Kagura, “It’s not one year’s worth of sukonbu, but a growing child should eat a more balanced diet, so I brought dinner for all of us.”  
“Zura, are you sure? You have no idea how much this glutton you confused with a growing child eats.”

“It’s alright. After worrying you so much, it’s just fair,” he reached into the bag again, “here, Shinpachi kun, Otsuu’s new single and tub of Bargain Dash for your sister.”

Shinpachi looked from the presents in Katsura’s hand to his face and back, “Really, Katsura-san, it was just a joke, you don’t need to do this.”

“I insist.”

Shinpachi hesitantly took the presents from his hand thanking him and bowing a few times.

“Oi, Santa, did you also bring something for the always nice Gin-san?”

“It’s not Santa, it’s Katsura. I’m very sure you are naughty most of the time but I brought something for you anyway,” he chuckled while fetching a bottle from the other plastic bag.

“The _naughty_ times have been over since the war.” Katsura tried his best not to react to the undertone in Gintoki’s voice but his cheeks suddenly felt hot.

Gintoki stared at the bottle in disbelief, “Booze? And food? What did I do to deserve this kind of present?”

“Don’t get too used to it. This is just for dragging you into this whole Benizakura dilemma. And while we’re at it, how about you join the Jou-.”

“Shut up and give us the food!”

Katsura uncovered the trays and put the sushi on the table. The initial awe about the expensive food faded quickly and Gintoki and Shinpachi were fighting with all they had to snatch a few pieces of sushi away from Kagura’s ever hungry mouth. Somehow, they all managed to get enough to eat, though not without Gintoki making some extra rice for Kagura. Their meal came to a messy end with broken chopsticks, single ginger leaves, and sprinkles of soy sauce under and around the table.

Yet, the room was buzzing with lively chatter and laughs and Gintoki and Katsura had emptied one third of the bottle. Their cheeks were glowing in a pretty shade of pink and during the course of the evening Gintoki ended up sitting right next to Katsura.

They started playing Uno and after a few more cups of sake, Gintoki’s hand briefly stroked over Katsura’s thigh, which lead to a sudden loss of all of his hand cards and roaring laughter from Kagura who simply assumed a bug must’ve bitten him.  
By the uptenth round of Uno and even more booze, Katsura’s vision was extremely blurry. Kagura and Shinpachi had fallen asleep on one of the couches a while ago. The last thing he could make out before falling into an alcohol induced slumber, was Gintoki throwing Kagura’s blanket over the two kids.

____________________________________

 

Katsura woke up again when it was still dark. He lifted his head from the table and pushed the blanket somebody put over him from his shoulders. Quietly rising to his feet, he looked around but aside from a snoring girl and a peacefully sleeping boy, Gintoki was nowhere to be found.

He gazed out of the window and noticed the dark blue of the night sky was already beginning to fade which meant the sun was about to rise. He straightened his clothes, gathered his belongings and after tip toeing to the door, he reached for his sandals. The bathroom door opened, and he stopped mid-motion.

“Heading home?” Gintoki asked with a quiet voice while closing the bathroom door again. Katsura turned around to face him.

“Yes, I can’t keep my men waiting for so long. It was a great evening with you, Leader, and-”

Suddenly, Gintoki slid his arms around Katsura and held him in a tight hug.

“I thought I had lost you,” Gintoki whispered into Katsura’s ear, his voice unusually grave and quiet. His breath reeked of the sake they drank earlier, a faint pink flush was still noticeable on his cheeks. Gintoki’s hand reached for black hair, his fingers carefully ran through black strands much shorter than the last time he dared to touch them. Back when death, blood, and battle was all that surrounded them.

“I wouldn’t ever leave you behind,” Katsura replied with a soft voice, untensing as he lifted his hands to gently go over Gintoki’s broad back and shoulders, “you still owe me 250 yen for the Jump I bought you the other day.”

“Stupid wig,” a low voice mumbled. White curls tickled Katsura’s chin and jaw as Gintoki buried his face in the crook of Katsura’s neck “I hope you get hit by a bus on your way home.”

Katsura ruffled the soft curls with a smile on his lips, eyes closed and for a moment, that was bound to end too quickly, all he could feel and smell was Gintoki.  
Too soon, Gintoki stepped back and ended this long-overdue hug. Katsura straightened his clothes.

“Well… I’m gonna go home now. Thank you for the nice evening,” he cleared his throat “Goodbye, Gintoki.”

“See you around, Zura,” he waved in a lazy manner, “Please visit us again, but only if you bring food.”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura,” replied the other man as he turned around and made his way downstairs from the Yorozuya. The rising sun accompanied Katsura as he walked back to the Joui rebel hideout, Edo still sleepy and unusually quiet. A lot of things changed in ten long years, he thought while looking over his shoulder with a gentle smile on his lips, but at least one thing remained unwavering.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. Comments and kudos are much appreciated.


End file.
